Few Telescope brand names bring forth such romanticism as the Unitron name. It was the telescope to have in the 1950s through 1960s. Every budding astronomer from the era poured over the Unitron ads and contemplated their eventual purchase of one of these fine instruments. Patterned after refractor telescopes from the turn of the century, Unitron essentially copied the classic weight driven refractor of the era. Nickel plated brass, wood, and clockwork precision was built into every Uniton made. An astronomer could purchase a scope as small as 2 inches and as large as a custom 8 inch refractor. Everyone remembers the Sky & Telescope ads of the gentleman observing the sun through the 6 inch F-15 Unitron.
The Science store I worked at sold Unitron equipment until the telescope company eventually exited the market. By the mid 1990s most of the remaining stock at Unitron was depleted and the once dominating telescope brand was just a memory. Long focus refractors were replaced by short reflectors and fast astrophotography refractors. Gone were the days of long tubes, nickel plated brass, and slow spinning clock drives.
The Telescopes
I personally own three Unitron telescopes: 4 inch F-15 (model 160) Photo-Equatorial, 3 inch F-16 photographic guide, and 6 inch custom built by Dobbins Instrument Company for Unitron.
Model 160:
Purchased in 1967, it originally came pier mounted as a Model 166. The previous owner bought a tripod a few years later for field work. Since it was originally pier mounted it is missing the original tripod shelf -- otherwise it has all the other toys that came with the photo-equatorial models. I have the option of using one of two drives depending on my mood: electric or weight driven.
- Photographic guide:
- Clock Drive: Options of electric or weight driven
- Duetron: .965 eypieces for observing with two people
- Super Unihex: Large format Unihex with 60mm (2 inch) eyepiece and selected .965 eyepieces
- Unihex: 1.25 Eyepiece holder
- Plate Camera: 4X5 plate camera for sheet film or glass plates
- Solar apature stop and herschal wedge: For observing the sun
- Eyepieces: List types
- Tool Kit:
- Cases
- Wanted : shelf, light
Custom Dobbins Instrument:
